Speaker 1: Hey, hey everyone, this is Dan the GM from What
the Dice, and you are listening to Tale of the Manticre.
Speaker 2: The following podcast is intended for a mature audience. Listener
discretion is advised. Welcome back to Tale of the Manticor
Season three. Like the creature from which it takes its name,
Tale of the Manticor is a mashup, a cross breeding
between two different species of storytelling. Here you will find
the unpredictability of old school paper and dice games with
the story craft of a dark fantasy novel. No character
is sacred and none will be spared if the dice
decide their fate is at hand. According to Lare, the
Tale of a Manticre is barbed with cruel iron spikes.
There will be much pain in the days ahead. Last
time on Tail of the Mantigor, in chapter fourteen, having
passed through Black Cloud Territory, the party continues its journey
to the north in search of Audoc. They are beginning
to run low on food and water, but Cord uses
magic to locate a raspberry bush. While this temporarily solves
one problem, it unfortunately leads to another. The raspberry bush
turns out to be the home of a family of Sprites,
and they do not appreciate having it ransacked by a
group of hungry dum humans. Making things worse, Tintier accidentally
swatchs one of them, having mistaken it for a bug.
Desprite's leader declares that Tantier must be punished and demands
that the party make restitution for his affront. By way
of punishment, the Sprites cast a minor curse on the
young Elf, which will forever make raspberries taste like rotten fish.
As for their restitution, the demand that the party turns
over their salt. This is confusing to the Pecs, who
don't realize they're carrying any until Achillia is made to
empty her bag. That's when the gift from the wizard
Fim completely forgotten at the bottom of her bag until
now falls out. FIM's gift is, of course, a small
quantity of exotic salt, as it is the way of
fairy folk to offer a wager when meeting strangers. The
companions find themselves risking some of their gold coins against
the chance to learn where they can find water. The
Sprites then ask a riddle, and de Rennie thinks he
knows the answer. Chapter fifteen, Part one day fourteen afternoon
mythic event meaning assist the innocent party. Status Achillia seven
out of seven hit points, Cord three out of eleven,
de Rennie nine out of nine, ten Tier six out
of six. Supplies. The Companions have five portions of food
and no water spells available. Achillia has memorized shrink and
message Cord can cast entangle.
Speaker 1: M your solid.
Speaker 2: The solution to the riddle suddenly came to DORNI.
Speaker 3: I know the answer, he said.
Speaker 1: On s.
Speaker 4: Roof one. Guess is all I need or full? The
thing that grows smaller the more you share. It is
a secret.
Speaker 2: The sprites exploded in a frenzy of helter skelter flight.
They buzzed and chittered to each other, possibly in frustration,
possibly in celebration. It was hard to tell until they
finally calmed and their leader, beaming and grinning, declared.
Speaker 1: You have the right of it off ro dust, which
with promised.
Speaker 2: The other fairies erupted into boisterous applause, clapping their tiny
hands madly and flipping their bodies in the air.
Speaker 1: You're s.
Speaker 2: He told them, pointing off to the northwest.
Speaker 1: I should ask for the secret. What's all offer for free?
You should love power Moda. You're pitt the rules and
I let us ass out are rising here.
Speaker 2: Some of the other fairies brought their little hands up
to their mouths, as if to conceal smiles. The titter
of laughter rippled through them.
Speaker 1: Of course, thrus that perhaps the ripple of you.
Speaker 2: The companions thanked the sprites, and, taking their leave, circumnavigated
their patch of raspberry bushes and went in the direction
they'd been shown. They traveled in single file, as they
always did, and one by one the hours passed. The
terrain became less hilly and gave way eventually to plains
of tall grass yellowed by the summer sun. Purple thistles
poked through, and insects buzzed around them as they walked.
By mid afternoon, the clouds had somewhat dispersed and a
weak diffusion of sunlight filtered through them. The party stopped
to rest only once, eager to reach the river by nightfall,
and they almost succeeded. The fairies, who flew rather than walked,
had overestimated their overland speed. It was two hours past
sundown when they heard the sound of flowing water coming
from up ahead. If they hadn't been so thirsty, they
might have decided to make camp some distance away from
the river. Both Durranian ten tier knew as a matter
of common sense that a riverside was not a wise
place to make camp. Rivers drew animals and all manner
of other creatures besides, But they've been without water for
a full day of travel, and the decision to risk
it was unanimous. So they pushed on, and finally, by
the light of the half moon shining overhead, they came
to the curving silver shape of the river. Here they
found a suitable spot to make camp for the night,
under a weeping willow, and with cord keeping vigil Achillia, Durni,
and Tantir laid out their bed rolls, and as they
were all exhausted by the day's journey, quickly fell asleep.
I need to make some hex crawl rolls for the PCs.
Just the basics are required for tomorrow's weather A five.
I think that a light rain begins in the night
and will continue to drizzle on and off all the
next day. Next is the roll for stumble Upon at
sixteen means nothing out of the ordinary happens. That said,
this part of the world contains a special set piece scenario.
When the party followed the river upstream, as are certain
to do, since it will take them in their intended direction,
they will eventually come within sight of the place the
leader of this brites told them about these ruins, and
there isn't much left of them mark the original home
with the camors. More on the cay ors as we go,
but for now, I still need to make a role
for wandering encounters. And since I have mentioned that camping
riverside is somewhat more dangerous than choosing a spot farther off,
I'll represent that by increasing the chance of having such
an encounter. A four to six on a D six
means they will Here's the role.
Speaker 3: Hum I got a one.
Speaker 2: Finally, the pieces can spend a day without running it
as something weird or unpleasant. She was dreaming again. This
at least she understood. The rest was confusing. At first,
she thought she was standing face to face with the
boy from her dream of the previous night. But when
he mimicked her movement so precisely, and as her environs
coally surround her from whatever miasmic stuff dreams are made from.
She realized that she was standing in front of a
huge looking glass, and that the person in front of
her was her, or she was him. Once again, her
reflected image showed her an identity that was not her own.
She was intrigued that her dreams should have such continuity,
for the face in the mirror was the same face
she had seen in the pond, though it was less
frightened looking now according to the looking glass, she was
clothed in rich garments, a black doublet slashed at the
sleeves to reveal a green silken shirt. Underneath. Her hair
was a wavy, light brown, parted in the middle and
cut straight at the jawline. A gold medallion hung around
her neck. Suddenly, and unable to control it, she found
herself talking, come get home. She heard and felt herself
say it, though her voice was not her own. It
just want to go home, she said again, It just
wants see. She realized that not only could she not
control her own voice, but she could take no action
at all of her own free will. She was merely
a passenger in this boy's body, looking through his eyes
and hearing through his ears. She was in some kind
of room. There were symbols on the wall made from
beaten copper. They showed stylized versions of the sun. There
was a window of the lighted stained glass placed high
on one wall over a set of double doors. It
too showed a sun with chunky yellow wavy lines radiating
out from a circle of red. But no light brightened
the colored glass. It was dark but for the light
of a candle that she held. The air felt cold
and damp. Unable to control her movements, she found herself
walking out of the small room and passing through a
pair of double doors. Outside, it was night. She was
in a long courtyard flanked by columns and ending in
a portico of ghostly white stone. The open sky above
was the color of iron. With purpose, her steps took
her across the yard under the portico into a single
door decorated in carved filigree. Her hand came up and
took the handle. Still with no agency of her own,
she opened the door and stepped through it. A short
corridor led to an opulent throne room, and Achillie realized
that she was in a castle. She had only ever
heard about castles from Aldvay's stories. Presently she felt like
she was a part.
Speaker 3: Of one of his stories.
Speaker 2: It was quiet, There were no other people around, only
a raised dais, upon which stood two lonesome thrones of wood.
A different tapestry hung from each wall, showing some royal
personage or other, and a small table between the thrones
held a pair of polished silver goblets. The reflection of
her candle flame gleamed and bent across them. She walked
up the steps of the dais, and once again she
heard the boy's voice, while her own mouth worked like
a puppet's mouth.
Speaker 1: I can't find it.
Speaker 5: It should be right here.
Speaker 3: She looked down.
Speaker 2: There was a sun symbol etched into the stone floor. Here,
repeated the voice in frustration. The hand that was not
her own then reached forward and picked up one of
the silver goblets, holding it aloft. She caught her reflection,
but this time it was her own face that she saw,
her own amber eyes and platinum hair in the image,
distorted and stretched by the polished curvature of the silver goblet.
When the voice spoke again, she could hear it, but
in her reflection, her mouth did not move.
Speaker 5: Could I tell you the secret?
Speaker 2: He asked, in a voice so low it was almost
a whisper. Achilie wanted to reply. She willed herself to reply,
but she had no voice and her image remained static.
Speaker 1: I'll tell it to you if you promise to leave.
Speaker 3: Me, Achilie woke up.
Speaker 2: Fifteen two day fifteen pre dawn mythic event meaning assist
the innocent party. Status Achillia seven out of seven hit points,
Court four of eleven, having regained one hit point through
natural healing. De Renni nine of nine ten Tier six
of six supplies. The companions have two portions of foot
and twenty.
Speaker 3: One of water. Spells available.
Speaker 2: Achillia has memorized shrink and message. Court can cast and tangle.
None of the companions slept very well that night, for
part way through A light but cold rain began to fall,
and the willow provided poor shelter. The rain came and
fits and starts, and it was during one of these
short showers that Achillia was woken from a dream of
the boy in fine clothes. After that, she found it
was impossible to get back to sleep, so she stayed
up with Cord, whispering idle thoughts to him for a
time and then later, while the stars and moon shone
through the clouds overhead, she tested out ideas for a
third stanza to the poem she was working on. While
happy with the first and second, the third had thus
far eluded her. She wanted it to say something, be
something more than just an ode to natural beauty, but
no inspiration came, just more rain, and eventually the sunrise.
The cloud cover made it a gorgeous sight to begin.
A soft pink glow suffused the air, preceding the appearance
of the red ball of the sun, but even the
spectacle evoked no suitable words. Eventually, Achillie gave up trying
and just enjoyed the view. When the rain abated once again,
she took the jet and turquoise skull from her bag
and unwrapped it from the bundle of clothes she had
been keeping it in. She sat it on her lap
and stared at it for a time. Its rictus grin
stared back at her.
Speaker 4: Is that you in my dreams?
Speaker 2: She asked in a whisper. The skull continued to gaze
at Achillie from empty eyes, and suddenly she felt silly.
She rewrapped it and put it back in her bag,
pulling out her spell book instead. Then she began to study,
as she still had both spells memorized from before. This time,
she read ahead into the labyrinth of arcane language that
she herself had penned but could not yet understand. She
read the words anyway, willing them to make sense, but
she was unable to do that either. Perhaps her creative
and academic failures this morning could be blamed on the
disturbing dream. The noise to her left indicated that Dernnie
had emerged from sleep. The older all fluked at her
with puffy eyes and scratched his scalp.
Speaker 3: Good morning, he said, have you been up long?
Speaker 2: Achilia closed her book and replaced.
Speaker 6: It in her bag, just long enough to watch the sunrise.
I suppose we should wake your brother.
Speaker 4: Let him sleep a bit longer. He had a hard
day yesterday.
Speaker 2: The previous night, Tintier had explained to them that the
sprites had cursed him so that he had tasted rotten fish.
But surely it won't last forever, Achillie had remarked. Tin
Tire had shared a grim smile with his brother before replying.
Speaker 5: There's an elder in our tribe, Toulani is her name. Once,
long ago she accidentally killed the sprite, stepped on it
while I was sleeping and crushed it. In fact, the
other sprites then appeared and put a fairy hex on her,
and it has lasted her whole life. It is still
upon her to this day.
Speaker 6: Was it the same hecks they put on you, Achilie
had asked.
Speaker 5: Worse, they caused her skin to smell like onions. Sounds
harmless enough, right well. Even though nobody in our tribe
blamed her for what happened, she has always lived alone
and she has never found at.
Speaker 2: While ten Tires slept in, Achillia and Dorani undressed and
went into the river to bathe. Akilia couldn't help but
WinCE when she saw the as yet unhealed whip barks
on der Rennie's back as he turned around. Despite these
grim reminders of the dangers they had faced, it felt
glorious to wash off the grime of so many days travel.
Achilie even unbraided her hair so as to better clean it.
The noise of their splashing around and laughing eventually woke
ten Tyre, who joined them in the water. While Cord
and Robin looked on from the bank. After they had
washed and packed their things, they followed the river's eastern bank,
heading north. By Achillie's calculation, they still had more than
two weeks to go before they would reach their destination.
It would be a long journey, but she had to
admit that she felt optimistic, and she was so glad
of the two brothers companionship. She wouldn't have gotten this
far without them, she knew, and she was grateful. The
rain started once again some time around noon. It was
hard to tell the time of day with any accuracy
because by now the sky was completely overcast. Presently, the
companions began to feel hungry. They decided that it would
be best if they could save the small quantity of
preserved rations they still carried, and instead tried to forage
for something. There was a spot up ahead where the
river had bulged and the vegetation was thicker. It seemed
like a likely place to find some food. I've mentioned
before that the rules I've been using for foraging while
on the move afford players a one in six chance
to find enough food to last a day. I think
I can rule that by a river the chances would
be higher so all double those odds. That's are one
or two on a D six for success. Here's the role.
Speaker 3: Two.
Speaker 2: How about that? No wandering encounter for the day and
success at forging. I am almost ready to think the
PC is luck has changed. It was Achillie who spotted
at first a little patch of one and yellow flowers,
half hidden behind the bank of the river, just at
the point where it bulged out. Although there were wild
flowers all over the countryside, most of these plants could
not be eaten. Happily, in this case, both of these
were ritable. It was an incredible stroke of luck. Look,
she said brightly, that's watercress and those now she was
pointing at the yellow flowers a cold's foot. The two
plants combined made for a fresh tasting, a light lunch,
and between them the companions ate the lot of it.
Speaker 3: Well.
Speaker 2: There wasn't anything left over after the meal to take
with them. It was enough to fill their bellies for
the day, and that was something to celebrate. As they
rested digesting, Duranie patted his stomach and said.
Speaker 4: Well, spotted, Achillie. There's an old hunter's saying. Our friend
Elmer is fond of repeating hunger sharpens the eye.
Speaker 2: Achillie laughed, but tentire remained silent. Oh no, said Achilia,
mistaking his discomfort for something.
Speaker 3: It wasn't.
Speaker 6: Does the food taste of rotted fish like the four?
Speaker 3: No, it's not that.
Speaker 2: It seemed like the younger brother wouldn't say more, But
then he suddenly had a change of heart and opened up,
sharing the story of his recent transgression with Achilia. I'll
have much to answer for when we get back, he concluded.
Achilia didn't know what to say about that, so she
changed the subject.
Speaker 5: Did you know?
Speaker 6: She began that cold foot flower can be tried to
make a very tasty tea.
Speaker 2: The brothers nodded with polite interest, but Achilia suddenly felt
some worry of her own. For the second time in
two days, she recollected the meeting with the wizard Fim
that tea he had served her. By her memory, it
had tasted strange. Perhaps she only thought so because she
was not used to sweet tea. Achilia had never mentioned
anything to the brothers about the Iron Tower or fimgrim Atresch,
and certainly not about her vappi. But now she found
herself wanting to tell Dernnie and tantire everything. It was
her turn to be honest and give a little more
of herself, so she did. The brothers listened in silence
as she unburdened herself, sharing every detail she could remember,
all the way to where she found her. Bobby turned
a stone. When she was done. There were tears running
down her cheeks, and Cord, who had guessed at what
she was talking about despite not speaking, Alvish, was at
her side with a wooden arm around her shoulder. The
brothers didn't ask any questions. They just nodded and waited
patiently until she was composed. Before long, Achillie sniffed, wiped
her cheeks, and stood up.
Speaker 6: I don't suppose either of you have ever heard of
same grim.
Speaker 3: Atrash, she said, without much hope.
Speaker 2: Do any intent here? Just shook their heads. Then there
was nothing to do but put on their packs and
resumed the walk. Beyond the bulge, the river was wider.
Achillia guessed that it might be one hundred feet across.
It seemed deeper too, As it ran straighter, the current
moved somewhat more swiftly. Myles went by as they hiked,
keeping the river to their left and stopping whenever they
required a break. A few hours before sunset, the clouds
cleared and the intermittent rains finally abated. Their shadows began
to lengthen, and then, just as the sun was completing
its track across the sky, Tentyr, who is in lily
it as usual, stopped to point at a shape in
the distance. It was a little hard to tell what
it was, partly because of the failing light, and partly
because it was all the way on the other side
of the river. It looked like a pile of rocks,
but it did not fit with the rest of the landscape. Squinting,
Tentyre thought he could see individual stone bricks, and he
shared this observation with the others.
Speaker 5: That must be the ruins the fay folk mentioned.
Speaker 3: He said, we haven't.
Speaker 5: Discussed, but well, I think we should take a look.
Speaker 3: Achillie pulled at her chin.
Speaker 6: What did that fairy say that it was the location
of a wizarding stick? Do you suppose there's any truth
in that?
Speaker 3: Oh?
Speaker 2: Yes, said ten Tyr.
Speaker 5: Sprites do not tell lies. Their race is incapable of
failing lies.
Speaker 4: In fact, tent Tier speaks truth. Agreed to renny, But
they are also notorious tricks, and although I doubt not
the truth of their words, they may well have left
out something important. You saw how they were acting.
Speaker 3: Why don't we.
Speaker 6: Stop here for the night, and then in the morning
we'll decide if we want to try and cross and
take a closer look.
Speaker 2: Well, that brings us to the end of day fifteen
and to another set of hex crawl rolls for the
night and the next day. Given that they would have
had plenty of food and water to day, I think
the companions would have the energy and wherewithal to find
a safe place with decent shelter a little ways off
from the river's edge, where it's safer to spend the night.
That means I can reduce the chance for a wandering
encounter back down to a one in three chance. But
first things first, a roll for tomorrow's weather A four.
Oh boy, it looks like the rain is back, and
it's worse now, no longer intermittent. Sometime in the middle
of the night it recommences, and this time there is
no reprief The rain is cold and the companion's clothing
gets wet. Everyone and must spend the pre dawned hours
shivering and unable to sleep. Next is a stumble upon roll.
Speaker 3: Here we go.
Speaker 2: Well, look at that, I've got a twenty. I thought
I knew what the PCs were going to encounter on
the next day, But this changes things. I'll need to
come up with something new. At twenty means the PCs
stumble upon some kind of boon.
Speaker 3: What might that be?
Speaker 2: Maybe my wandering encounter roll will provide a clue. Rolling
a D six A three on the diye means no encounter. Hmm,
maybe I can get an idea from my event meaning
assist the innocent. Ah, yes, I know what's going to happen.
Achillie is going to dream once again of the human
boy tonight, but this one will be different. Thus far,
she's been unable to communicate with him, but this stumble
upon roll has given me an.
Speaker 3: Idea of how that could change.
Speaker 2: Chapter fifteen, Part three, Day fifteen, midnight mythic event me
assist the innocent party status. The party's status is unchanged.
She was dreaming again, but this time the experience did
not begin with any disorientation. She knew where she was
and who she was. A quick look around through the
eyes that were not her own, and she saw she
was in the throne room once again, or perhaps still
in the throne room. There was the dais and the
pair of wooden thrones, with the small goblet bearing table
between them.
Speaker 3: The boy looked away.
Speaker 2: From the throne now and down at the floor at
his feet. A sun symbol had been etched into the stone.
It should be right, dear, said the voice of the boy,
sounding frustrated and scared. In the last dream, Achilie had
been unable to communicate with him, but this time she
had a plan. Achilie cast the spell message tell me
what you are looking for, she said, telepathically, hoping her
magic would still work in a dream for the space.
Speaker 3: Of a heart.
Speaker 2: There was no reply. Then you can't hear me, the
boy sounded jubilant.
Speaker 1: Thanks it all.
Speaker 3: I knew you could hear me.
Speaker 5: I just knew it.
Speaker 1: You are the same woman in the mirror, aren't you.
Speaker 2: Achilia wanted to answer, but her spell was spent and
it only allowed for a single message.
Speaker 5: Are you there?
Speaker 3: Pre't you there?
Speaker 5: Woman?
Speaker 3: I think you are.
Speaker 1: I can hear you rear me.
Speaker 2: The boy knelt down on the floor, and Achillia could
sense the cold stone through the knees of his trousers.
He traced the etching with a small finger.
Speaker 5: I think this is wi it is. I've only seen
it in my dreams, but.
Speaker 6: I think this is well.
Speaker 3: Suddenly, he sounded worried.
Speaker 1: You aren't just a dream, though, are you? Do you
know what I think? I think you're good spirit. You've
come to Garden Home, and that's why you're you.
Speaker 2: Akilia felt a deep sadness for this boy, even though
she didn't even know what he was searching for. He
seemed utterly alone here. She wished she could help him,
even if all she could provide was a bit of
comfort or reassurance.
Speaker 3: But what could she do.
Speaker 2: She wasn't even able to speak with him the second time.
Speaker 5: Are you still there?
Speaker 2: I think you are still here?
Speaker 5: You are, aren't you?
Speaker 3: He asked again.
Speaker 2: Achillia experienced the boy looking left and then right, as
if to make sure there was no one else around,
And now he was whispering.
Speaker 6: I hope you are because I want.
Speaker 5: To tell you my secret.
Speaker 1: You promised to believe me.
Speaker 2: If Achilia could have leaned forward, she would.
Speaker 5: Have don't know, but my secret is.
Speaker 6: I think I'm right to be dead.
Speaker 2: Chapter fifteen Part four, Day sixteen mourning mythic event meaning
assist the innocent party. Status Achillea seven of seven hit points,
Cord five of eleven, having gained one hit point through
natural healing, Derni nine of nine ten Tier six of
six supplies. The companions have five portions of food and twenty.
Speaker 3: One of water.
Speaker 2: Spells available. Achillee has memorized message times two. Cord can cast,
entangle and locate plants and animals.
Speaker 3: In the morning, the.
Speaker 2: Cold rains came harder, making them shiver. After she had
studied taking pains to memorize spell of message twice and
to keep her precious spell bug under shelter, Achilie told
the others about her visions of the human boy and
how she suspected they were more than mere dreams. Der Renni,
judging by the look on his face as he listened,
was not much moved, but Tenttius showed great interest and
asked for a lot of questions. Unfortunately, Achilie had no
answer for most of them. While nobody knew what to
say about her dreams, there was consensus on what they
should do that morning, they decided to try a river crossing.
Before that, they ate most of their remaining rations. This
would lighten their load and prevent it from getting wet
as they swam. They further dumped out the contents of
their water skins, also for the purpose of reducing their burden.
These could be refilled on the far side. When these
preparations were complete, they removed those items from their packs
that most needed to be kept dry and held them
aloft as they entered the water. The river was cold,
but the rain had already given them a chill, and
it felt good once they got used to it. Achilie,
de Renni, and tent Here were all fair swims. Cord
could not swim, but he did have a natural talent
for staying afloat, making things even easier. The current here
was not so strong, and so in crossing the companions
only drifted down river by thirty or forty yards. When
they reached the other side, Achilia helped Cord out of
the water and up the far bank. She and the
Oven brothers wrung out their clothes as best they could, dressed,
refilled their water skins, and then began to walk north
again along the river's west bank. It was surprising how
much weight a full water skin added to their load,
each of.
Speaker 3: Them thought privately.
Speaker 2: When she had pulled Cord up on the bank, Achille
had noticed again how well the construct was healing. The
split down his torso was still there, but it was
starting to fill up with new wood. The result was
that it was now slightly wider on top than on
the bottom. She had also caught something she had never
seen on him before. There was a tiny green sprout
growing out from the middle of the wound. When she
asked him about it, Cord just shrugged. The companion's next
task was to invest to get the jumble of stone
blocks ten Tier had seen on the previous day. There
wasn't much to discover. It turned out ten Tier had
been right that the stones had been cut, and that
this was indeed the ruin of an ancient building. Most
of the blocks had crumbled, age and weather had rounded
their edges. However, a few of them yet retained their
rectangular shape. As the earth had reclaimed so much of
the structure, it was impossible to tell from the outside
what kind of building it had been.
Speaker 3: But when they drew.
Speaker 2: Close and Achillee saw inside, the half elf blurted.
Speaker 6: Out, of course I should have guessed She pointed.
Speaker 2: Out a huge round stone cut into a cylinder, sitting
right in the middle.
Speaker 6: Of the ruin a building right near the river. This
must have been a mill house.
Speaker 2: Elves did not use mills to grind anything in their culture.
All such work was done by hand. It took a
while for Achilia to explain how water mills worked. She
showed them where a central wooden pole would have once
gone through the middle of the mill stone, and asking
them to use their imaginations, described how a second pole
would have been connected to it, using gears to a
water wheel outside. The engineering concept delighted the brothers, who
had only ever heard stories about human ingenuity and invention.
Speaker 5: Amazing, said Tantyr, Imagine how much flour this could make
and how much bread it could have fit dozens of people.
Speaker 2: Hundreds, Achillia corrected him.
Speaker 6: My master Olday once told me that when they don't
have access to water, humans can harness the wind in
much the same way.
Speaker 2: Durenny Scowl did that in incredulity, nonsense, he said flatly.
Speaker 4: Anyone can see that no amount of wind could ever
move fat.
Speaker 2: Achillie followed his gaze back to the big millstone, and
she had to agree that it did seem pretty unlikely.
Speaker 6: All the same, she continued, if this place was able
to feed a lot of people.
Speaker 2: Then there might have been a whole village here, said Tantyer,
finishing her thought.
Speaker 4: Well, I would not have expected to find a treasure
such as the Fay folk described in a water will.
Speaker 3: Nill Achillia corrected.
Speaker 5: Duranenny ignored her, but if there is a bigger ruin,
it would probably be fairly near by.
Speaker 2: His sentence trailed off as he noticed something in the
distance to the west.
Speaker 3: Look, he breathed.
Speaker 2: The others turned and immediately saw what he saw. A
half mile away, on the side of a small hill,
with its source hidden by a copse of trees, a
thin gray ribbon of smoke was slowly rising into the sky.
Thanks very much for listening to Tale of the Manticor
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This episode ran a little bit long, so I'll skip
the review read and jump to the credits to my
amazing cast sid By Amigo in Arizona playing the Sprite
Leader and providing me with one of the most fun
episodes I've ever gotten to Max, the fantastic Truman Cooper
who voices the ghost of the Prince, Kyellen and Kevin
in their roles of Dornian tent Here who always deliver.
Thank you so very much your voices bring this show
alive for listeners. You'd like to learn a bit more
about Tale of the Manticor, I keep a blog where
I post all kinds of show and RPG related stuff
like art, maps, tables, crafts, and show notes. You can
find it at Tale of Themanticore dot blogspot dot com.
To get in touch with me, I'm at Manticore Tale
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all the messages an email I receive, and I'd love
to hear from you. The adventure will continue on the
next episode of Tale of the manticor It's the story
where Chaos rules